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29 October 2015

This same week two years ago I did a manicure for the release of the original Hotel Transylvania animated film (You can see the manicure and read the post HERE) I genuinely thought that it was only last year that it came out. I loved the film and I was surprised to hear a new one was being released. I planned on going to see it but I think I'll get the dvd and watch it around Christmas instead (If it's out on dvd by then!)

There are a heap of new characters as well as old in Hotel Transylvania 2 so I tried to mash them together in one manicure. I decided on Mavis (Dracula's daughter), Blobik (Squishy green monster) and Dennis (Mavis' son).

For the background I have on 2 coats of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in 674 Nightwatch. I then sponged on Lac Attack Puddle Jumping to give it a cloudy night look. The black I used is Sally Hansen Patent Gloss in Vinyl. The peach for Mavis and Dennis is Illamasqua Monogamous. I used a mix of Barry m MushroomandSally Hansen Miracle Gel in 300 Electra-Cute for Dennis' hair. To make the nose stand out I used Essence Cookies and Cream. Blobik is Essence the gel nail polish in 27 Don't be shy (I painted on some white striped before this to give him some shape) Finally I used Sally Hansen Patent gloss in Moto for the number two on my pinky. I topped it off with Sally Hansen 3D Gel topcoat to smooth it all out.

I'm delighted with the way this turned out. It's colourful but it still fits in with the Halloween theme.

27 October 2015

This week is a Halloween themed Twinsie Tuesday. I tried to do something a bit different with a Silhouette style design. It looked better in my head but it's not the worst in the world. Plus it only needed 3 polishes which makes a change from my usual array of polishes.

I already had 3 coats of China Glaze Riveting on my nails from a previous manicure. Using Orly Liquid Vinyl I added on an old tree, a house a pumpkin and a spider web. The only details I added on were the windows and door of the house and some stripes to the pumpkin to give it some texture. Seeing as I had worn Riveting on its own but a few days before with a topcoat it was really hard to get the design on my nails. The topcoat make the surface slippery so the black just kept rubbing off.

It's a simple enough manicure but the orange background makes it look kind of eerie which is pretty cool. I'm not a fan of Halloween really but I love the nail art that you can do based on it. I know the other ladies will nail this challenge so check out their links down below.

26 October 2015

I wasn't expecting to see a white polish from the Essence I <3 Trends polish line, especially not a shimmery white but here it is! This is Ice to meet you, a shimmery white with a matte finish. As expected with a pastel polish it does need 3 coats to hide the streaks. I'd go with slightly thicker coats to save time.

Like the rest of these polishes it dries pretty quick. It's not the fastest drying polish in the whole entire world but you won't be sitting there for an hour waiting for it to dry either. I actually don't like the matte look on this polish, I think if a polish has shimmer you're better off with a glossy topcoat to really show it off.

I have on 3 coats here without a basecoat. The formula is easy to work with, I didn't have any clean up to do which is nice. It has a slightly textured finish, it's barely there but it's worth a mention.The thicker coats definitely help smooth it out though.

Here is the same swatch but with Sally Hansen 3D Gel shine topcoat on top. This is my personal preference. There is just something about it that reminds me of snow and I love it. It's not a stark white so it's easy to wear and it would suit any skintone.

23 October 2015

Seeing as Ireland were playing against Argentina in the Rugby last weekend I decided to do my nails to match. I didn't go mental with the design, instead I did a kind of abstract look.

I started with a white base on all of my nails. I filled in the ring finger using Zoya Storm leaving an oval shape to represent the ball. Using Catrice Run Forest Run (Green) and Sally Hansen Miracle Gel 300 in Electra-Cute (orange) I added "Rugby 2015" on the ball (Green, white and gold being the Irish Colours obviously!) For the rest of my manicure I added on gradient using OPI Goldeneye.

It was nice to break away from all the Halloween/ Dark manicures I've been wearing lately and do something kind of bright and sparkly.

22 October 2015

I had a nightmare of a time trying to get this manicure done. Believe it or not but this is my 4th attempt at getting this right. It was so frustrating but I really wanted to get it done. In the end I just painted on random stripes to make it look fairly similar to a fishtail braid.

I used Catrice Run Forest Run seeing as it is so opaque and I haven't used a Catrice polish in a while. Then I picked out Sally Hansen Complete salon manicure in 641 Belle of the Ball and Sally Hansen Miracle Gel in 300 Electra-Cute to go along with it. I wanted it to be a mix of bright polishes but still go with a Halloween theme. I left two of my nails with just a white base so the fishtail design would be more striking.

I actually really like the Fishtail look but I honestly don't have the patience to do any more of them!

20 October 2015

I found these pictures of a manicure I did last year and I thought it would be perfect to use for this post. I remember thinking they would be great for Halloween so I kept that aside. My nails were super short here after my ring finger nail ripped off. It was awful painful and using nail polish remover was horrific!

I started with Sally Hansen Complete Salon manicure in Tahitian Sunset. It's a pale orange and if I were to do this again I would probably use Sally Hansen Miracle gel in 300 Electra-cute. It's a much more vibrant orange. I then added on Essence Black is back. Once that had dried I added Lac attack Bunny poop on top of the black only and topped it off with a matte topcoat. I reversed the manicure on my ring finger just to make it stand out a bit more.

I love this combination. I'll probably do it again now that my nails are in better condition. Bunny poop (the polish) looks so good over a dark base. You really see the different coloured glitters come to life.

As always the other Twinsie links are down below so you can see what they came up with for this prompt!

19 October 2015

One of the latest Essence polish to hit the stands is a bit of a gimmick. Seeing as everyone goes mad for the "no make-up" make-up look Essence are doing the same thing but with nail polish. In fairness when I wear nail polish I don't really go for the sheer pinks that just brighten up the nail. I want full on colour / glitter depending on my mood so I knew I wouldn't be as into this as others would.

I have the Essence no make-up look polish in the shade 01 Powdery Rose. It is a pretty pale pink matte shade that is sheer but it can be built up. I have on 3 coats of Powdery Rose. The formula is a tad streaky .Even at 3 coats you could see some streaks up close, especially when left with the matte finish. You can leave it at 2 coats but I wanted to 3 to see if it would make much of a difference (it didn't really). It dries pretty quickly too which is a bonus.

I added on a coat of Sally Hansen 3D gel shine to see how this polish looked glossy (below) You can still see my nail line but it's designed to be sheer so I was expecting that. It's a pretty nice shade if you are into the sheer look. Personally I wish the streaks weren't there but that's my own personal polish preference. It does make your nails look a lot brighter, especially if they are slightly stained.

15 October 2015

Today is the start of A Weekly Dose of Rainbows. This is a new group set up by Amber from Nails Like Lace (Amber is also part of the Twinsie Tuesday group!). Basically every week there will be a rainbow themed manicure posted on Instagram based on a specific theme. This week was Rainbow Splatter.

Splatters aren't my favourite thing to do but I tend to like the end result. The polishes I used for this manicure:

I think it turned out really well. The bad thing about a splatter manicure is that you never know how well it will turn out. It usually starts off ok, the middle tends to be dodgy and I'm wanting to take it off but the end is definitely eye-catching! I think the rainbow theme works well with splatters.

13 October 2015

I am a huge Harry Potter fan so I couldn't resist doing a HP inspired manicure for this weeks Twinsie Tuesday post. The prompt was " Inspired by a fictional Character" and I went with Dumbledore for this one. I got my inspiration from the Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone book. Dumbledore is featured on the back of the book and on the spine.

I decided to keep Dumbledore as an accent nail and I went with the same colour scheme that features on the spine of the book for the other nails. The polishes I used:

12 October 2015

I was sent 2 products from the MADES Haircare line to try out. I don't use heat on my hair all that often but I notice that my hair isn't as nice as it was a couple of years ago. I have the Detagler Spray and the hair mask from the Repair Expert range. I am a big fan of masks in general so I was excited to try out a new hair mask. I used to love the Boots Coconut & Almond intensive hair mask and I went through a good 4 tubs before I noticed it wasn't really making a difference to my hair anymore (plus it is almost never in stock anymore)

The first thing I noticed about this range is how strongly scented they are. It's a pretty heavy scent and it can be overpowering if you are sensitive to scents. The detangler spray especially has quite a strong scent that lingers for a while after you spray it on your hair. The spray comes in a 200ml spray bottle with a built in lock and it's suitable for all hair types. I sprayed it on both wet and dry hair to see if it made any difference and I prefer to use it on wet hair. I've mentioned it a few times on here that I am sensitive to scents and I did have to skip the spray a few nights as it was proving too strong for me. I get fierce migraines and I know from experience that strong scents make them even worse.
I wouldn't recommend using it on dry hair if you have oily hair. I tried it out as they say it has a "light cleansing effect for non-shampoo days" and it made my hair look really greasy. It was ok on my ends but the roots looked greasy, even tried up in a ponytail I was pretty conscious of it.

The Hair mask come in a 150ml tube and it is designed for fragile/damaged hair. I would say you'd get around 8 good uses out of this if you have shoulder length hair. It's quite a thick mask so you need quite a bit of it if you want to use it all over. Again the scent is pretty noticeable but it is not as strong as the spray. It doesn't linger in your hair either which was great. I left it on for the recommended 5 minutes and while my hair wasn't noticeably softer it has a bit more volume than normal, especially my ends.

I have to say I'm not overly wowed by the products. I noticed some difference in my hair after using the products but not enough to make me want to purchase these once the bottles are empty. Both cost €8.99 each which is a lot more affordable than I was expecting! Even though they didn't work for me I will say they feel more expensive than that. McCabes pharmacy have them for 33% off at the minute so if you are interested in trying them out you can get them cheaper there.

07 October 2015

Bit of an unusual manicure today but if you've followed my for any length of time you'll know I have some different manicures inspired by random things. I was asked if I would like to review some Vanish stain removal products a while ago. I actually use these in the wash every day so I was interested in trying out the newer versions. They sent me both the Vanish Gold Oxi Action powder and the Vanish Gold for Whites powder. I've noticed a huge difference in my washing since I started using Vanish and I've used it in every wash for the last few years. There's nothing worse than washing your favourite jumper or shirt only for it to come out with a stain still on it so I air on the side of caution.

I thought it would be fun to do a manicure inspired by the product packaging so I went with the Vanish Gold Oxi Action seeing as it has a bit more colour to it. I started with Essence the gel nail polish in 09 #Lucky for my base (bright pink). Once that was dry I painted on the letters using a plain white polish before going over it with Lancome Nuit D'Azure (navy blue). Naturally I did the words gold in Catrice Goldfinger (shimmery gold). I was going to leave it at that but I added on some bubbles at the last minute using a white polish as my base and Sally Hansen Miracle Gel in 240 B-Girl (light blue).

I honestly wouldn't be without a box of Vanish now. It really freshens up my clothes and gets rid of any stains that may appear on them. Now Vanish is pretty expensive. The smaller tubs, like the one you see below, cost around €10. The bigger 1.5kg tubs go for around €18. I urge you to check around before buying them! You can find them on offer in most shops for at least half-price (Tesco have the big ones on offer fairly regularly for around €9!) so stock up when they are on offer and save yourself a good bit of money. They do last a good few weeks so if you have a wash on 2-3 times a day like me, you'll get a good while out of the tub. I wouldn't buy them full price as I know they go on offer a lot. I tend to stock up on them once the offers are out so I've never run out before the next discount is on.

06 October 2015

This week we got to pick our own manicure to recreate from another Twinsie's blog. I remember loving Dark Daisy Colour Block manicure when Amber posted it on her blog so I trawled through her instagram to find it again. Obviously I don't have the same polishes to recreate the manicure exactly so I changed them slightly to make it more Autumn-y.

I put on 2 coats of each polish to make the colour as strong as possible. I just dabbed on the gold polish using the brush instead of messing around with dotting tools. I striped off each nail in the center with striping tape once the black base was dry. I really like the ring fingers polishes together but I think they all work really well. Amber did a great job pairing these colours so I kept mine pretty similar.

02 October 2015

It's been a while since we had a Discworld Manicure! Book number 5 in the Discworld series is Sourcery. Rincewind is back alongside Conina and the hapless Nijel. I love Rincewind, he's a great character with some very funny one-liners.

Sourcery isn't one of my absolute favourites from the series but I enjoyed re-reading it. Like most of my other Discworld manicures I based my current one on the main characters: Conina on the left, Rincewind in the middle and Nijel on the right. Rincewind acts as a divide between the 2 other characters in the book so this seemed like the natural placement for them all. Gold/ Treasure features heavily in the book so instead of squeezing a design on pinky finger I used a sparkly polish instead.